Medical cannabis companies in Denmark have attracted outside capital worth more than 1.5 billion Danish kroner (about 200 million euros), or an average of $6 million per company.
Iris Group published a new report for investment promotion agency Invest.
According to a report conducted by Copenhagen-based Iris Group for investment promotion agency Invest in Odense, the largest investments come from founders and employees who have invested $90 million euros, representing 44% of the total investments.
“Two-thirds of Danish medical cannabis companies (65%) have been able to attract capital investment in the last three years, with 25% receiving either share capital, or seed, venture capital, or loan capital,“ the report states.
The analysis was based on a questionnaire given to all Danish medical cannabis companies licensed by the Danish Medical Agency to cultivate and produce medical cannabis products, as well as interviews with Danish company representatives and key actors.
Iris Group surveyed Denmark’s 36 medical cannabis companies in 2021, including Aurora or Little Green Pharma, which employ a total of 286 full-time people.
Extracts and isolates will outshine dried flowers in sales.
“The primary growth of the medical cannabis industry in Europe in the future will be in sales of extracts and isolates rather than dried flowers,” the report noted, citing various forecasts.
Dried flower cannabis accounted for less than 90% of medical cannabis sales in Europe in 2020, falling to just over 70% in 2021 and over 50% in 2022. A report carried out by Prohibition Partners in 2021 suggested that the flower could fall under 45% of all sales in 2023.
In January 2018, the Danish government authorized a four-year pilot program for medical cannabis. The program was extended in 2021. The pilot permitted doctors in Denmark to prescribe medical cannabis. Companies were also licensed to cultivate cannabis and use it to manufacture medical products.
Experts forecast significant international growth in the global medical cannabis industry with a predicted annual growth of around 19% between 2020 and 2026.
The report indicates that Danish medical cannabis companies expect future growth to be driven primarily by increased exports rather than opening up the domestic market.
